Heads for the Dead – Serpent’s Curse (Review)

Heads for the Dead are an international death metal band and this is their debut album.

Here we have another death metal supergroup of sorts from the always reliable Transcending Obscurity Records. Featuring the vocalist of the very tasty Revel in Flesh and the multi-talented Jonny Pettersson, (Ursinne, Ashcloud, Henry Kane, Just Before Dawn, Wombbath, and others), Serpent’s Curse gives us 36 minutes of horror-themed old-school death metal.

Undeniably rooted in the Swedish style of death metal, it’s not restricted to this, (see below), and the band have produced a thoroughly enjoyable slab of well-written, song-focused death metal.

Elements of black metal, doom, and crust can be heard in the music here and there, (which should probably come as no surprise considering the band members). By and large, however, this is 90s-influenced death metal, albeit a version that’s dripping with occult feeling and cleverly shot through with components from the aforementioned other styles. Aspects of Polish blackened death metal and crawling, malformed death/doom particularly make good impressions, for example.

For people that enjoy a good solo or lead there are plenty of these to enjoy here. Here’s a band that appreciate atmosphere as well as brutality. Some of the solos are also provided by guests too, which is always nice.

One thing of note about Serpent’s Curse, (one of many), is the raw power of the songs. The songwriting is well-executed and the delivery immense.

A few different ideas manifest across the album to keep things interesting, (such as female vocals, keyboards, different styles, etc.), and there’s a descent amount of diversity in the songwriting; each song has its own identity, and pace, dynamics, and mood are all used well throughout.

The growls of the singer are supported by some nicely blackened screams that sound quite scathing.

High quality, and full of grim depths, Serpent’s Curse is an album you’ll keep returning to again and again.